November 27, 2012

Investigators in Franklin County are still trying to solve the murder of a young mother.

Officers say  they have a person of interest in the killing of 23 year old Kayla Qualls.  They are not naming that person.

Qualls' body was found in the back of an SUV off of Spring Creek Road in rural Franklin County.  She apparently died of blunt force trauma to the head.
    
Neighbors in Tullahoma are surprised to learn the young woman with two small children was the victim of a murder.

"This is a shock it has traumatized me," says neighbor Angela Taylor.

Kayla Qualls lived with her boyfriend and her kids at a home on Lincoln Street.

On Monday morning hunters discovered a Ford Explorer in a field in neighboring Franklin County.
  
Qualls' body was found in the back of the vehicle.
  
Detectives believe she was killed, and then her body was driven to the isolated area.

The crime is another blow to the people who live on Lincoln Street.
   
Last year Angela Taylor's father in-law was murdered right across the street.
  
She understands the pain the Qualls family is going through.

"You don't know what it's like until it happens to you, and that's what people need to know, that nobody knows what it's like till it happens to you," says Taylor.

Kayla Qualls is originally from Lynchburg and graduated from Moore County High School.  She works at Calsonic in Shelbyville.

We spoke with her father today.  He didn't want to go on camera because the family is too upset.  Right now they're hoping for answers.

Family members tell FOX 17 News that Kayla's boyfriend has been cleared by investigators.
   
Now they're working to gain custody of the two small children.
   
Meanwhile, sheriff's investigators continue to conduct interviews and put together a timeline of Kayla Qualls' movements.
   
Neighbors in Tullahoma say they'll feel better when the case is solved.

"I hope they find who done it because this is wrong, and this is too close to home to me, and it scares me.  I keep my door locked ever since I heard it on the news," says Angela Taylor.

Franklin County Sheriff Tim Fuller says he feels positive about the direction the case is going.
  
The TBI is also working with local detectives to solve this murder. Detectives say they have sent evidence to the state crime lab for DNA testing.

For news updates follow John Dunn on twitter @WZTVJohnDunnDetectives Have Two Persons of Interest in Young Mother's Murder - John Dunn